President Aquino concludes U.S. trip
(NEW YORK, New York) President Benigno S. Aquino
III has concluded his five-day working visit to the United States, bringing
with him some good news in terms of fresh investments from various companies
upon his return to Manila.
President Aquino left San Francisco International
Airport at about 4:40 pm on Wednesday, Pacific time, via a Philippine Airlines
chartered flight.
Prior to his departure, the President held two
quick business meetings with the top executives of Caesars Entertainment
Corporation, International Development, and Wells Fargo Bank.
The meetings served as his 93rd and 94th
engagements respectively, bridging all the scheduled activities he had for
almost two weeks from Europe to the US.
President Aquino is expected to arrive in Manila at
about 10:00 pm on Thursday with a possible announcement regarding the results
of his successful working visits to Spain, Belgium, France, Germany, and the
United States. PND (hdc)
Philippines’ Grassroots Budgeting program wins
award in New York
Malacañang announced that the Philippines’
Grassroots Participatory Budgeting (GPB) program has won third place in the
2014 Open Government Awards presented during the Open Government Partnership
(OGP) high-level event in New York on Wednesday.
Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman accepted
the award, Deputy Spokesperson Abigail Valte told reporters during Thursday’s
press briefing at the Palace.
The top two places went to Denmark and Montenegro,
respectively.
“In her acceptance speech, Secretary Dinky Soliman
expressed our government’s appreciation to the OGP for recognizing the GPB
program,” Valte said. “The award affirms the efforts of those working in
government, both national and local, as well as those in the many civil society
organizations and communities that invested time and resources to establishing
this program.”
The OGP’s 1st Open Government Awards recognized
innovative programs that expand and deepen citizen engagement.
“The GPB program is revolutionary because it
offers an alternative to the usual top-down approach to budgeting by allowing
communities and local government units to identify and advocate for their own
projects, as deemed beneficial to their community, and which will be funded by
the national government,” she said.
She noted that this is the second year in a row
that the country has won an award.
Last year, the Citizen Participatory Audit—a joint
Commission on Audit-civil society project that audits government
performance—won the Bright Spots Award at the OGP Summit held in London, she
said.
The OGP is a movement comprised of 64 governments,
and international and national civil society organizations with the common
objective of deepening the practice of open government across its member
countries.
All member countries are required to commit to
make their respective governments more transparent, participatory, and
accountable.
“The Philippines is a founding member of the OGP
and currently sits on its Steering Committee. We have crafted our second OGP
Action Plan, which contains nine commitments, including the GPB program, the
passage of the Freedom of Information Act, and Open Data Philippines,” Valte
said. PND (ag)
Raising West Philippine Sea issue in Europe was
appropriate, says Palace official
A Malacañang official on Thursday defended
President Benigno S. Aquino III’s move to raise the West Philippine Sea issue
in Europe.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte
told reporters during a press briefing that considering the importance of the
West Philippine Sea as an international trade route, it was appropriate for the
President to bring up the issue in the European countries he recently visited.
“It is a concern for a lot of countries and you’ve
seen the support that the President was able to get from the countries that he
was able to visit,” Valte said when asked if it was justified for the President
to bring the issue to Europe.
“Kung hindi ito nai-raise ng Pangulo, given na isa
ito sa mga malaking isyu na hinaharap ng ating bansa at isa sa mga malaking
isyu din na interesado ang mga kaibigan natin sa labas, kung hindi po ito
nai-raise ng Pangulo ay malamang matatanong din ang Pangulo tungkol dito,” she
explained.
Manila and Beijing are quarreling over the cluster
of islands in the West Philippine Sea, with both laying claim to the Kalayaan
Group of Islands, Ayungin and Scarborough Shoals.
On March 30, the Philippines filed a memorial with
the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) against China, which
has refused to participate in any international arbitration. PND (ag)
